Home price declines ease in major cities but smaller cities suffer
Beijing and Shanghai among the key locations where the cost of buying is dipping but survey shows smaller cities are falling at a faster pace
The mainland's property downturn deepened last month in small cities while the suffering seemed to ease in bigger cities after they relaxed home-buying restrictions, according to two private surveys published yesterday.
The average new home price in most of China's 100 biggest cities fell for a fourth straight month in August, but the pace of decline slowed to 0.59 per cent from July's month-on-month fall of 0.81 per cent, data from the China Index Academy showed.
The academy is an affiliate of Soufun, the country's biggest real estate website operator.
Seventy-four cities saw prices drop, including all top 10 cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, while prices rose in the remaining 26, it added.
However, another survey by E-House China that captures more small cities showed the slump is getting worse, with its index measuring the average home price in 288 cities falling 0.26 per cent in August from July, faster than the previous month's drop of 0.13 per cent. It was the fifth month of decline.
Economists estimate the real estate sector accounts for a quarter of the country's gross domestic product.